Kuranda Australia

Kuranda
Australia is in north Queensland.

Kuranda is a lovely rainforest village inland from Cairns
in Far
North Queensland.

It is mostly
famous for its colourful markets, but there is also a lot of wildlife
to see, and being in the tropical rainforest, it is an excellent place
to discover the rainforest plants and animals. You can get there from
Cairns with the scenic Kuranda Railway and back with the Kuranda Sky
Rail. In the end of the skyrail trip is the famous Tjapukai Cultural
Park. Here is some information about Kuranda, Tjapukai by night, and in
the end of this page is accommodation and a Kuranda map.

Central Kuranda Australia
As you walk from the train station, you’ll turn onto Kuranda’s main
street – Coondoo Street, which is lined by small shops and eateries,
and in the end of the street you have the tourist information centre.

South of it across the street is Kuranda Wildlife Noctarium where you
can see nocturnal rainforest animals such as fruit bats,
sugar gliders and many more
animal species that are hard to see in the wild because they are active
during the night.

Scenic Railway. Poster by AllPosters. Click
on thumbnail
to
buy.
Kuranda Markets - Kuranda Australia
On the other side, north of the tourist information centre are the
famous Kuranda
Heritage Markets – the main
reason for many people to visit Kuranda. They are very nice colourful
markets that besides the usual arrangement of souvenirs also sell art,
clothes, jewellery and local food. It’s a great place to have a lunch
and spend a half a day. The markets are open every Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday and Sunday and liveliest in the mornings.

Butterfly Sanctuary. Poster by AllPosters.
Click on
thumbnail to
buy.
Birdworld and Australian Butterfly Sanctuary Kuranda
Here are also the Birdworld and Kuranda
Butterfly Sanctuary. In the
Birdworld
you can see many species
of parrots, cockatoos
and other Australian
birds, both native and exotic. Because you’re inside the closure with
them, you can get really close to them and take some good photos.
Kuranda Butterfly Sanctuary is
probably the best place in Australia to get close to Australian amazing
butterflies,
including the famous
Ulysses, and Cairns Birdwing – Australia’s largest butterfly.

Butterfly Sanctuary. Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to
buy.

Original Kuranda Markets and the Aviary
Across the street from the Heritage Markets are the Original
Kuranda Markets, and the
Aviary, where there are more parrots
and other Australian bird
species. There are walking tracks from here through the lush rainforest
of the Jumrum Creek Environmental Park and a few lookouts over some
lovely waterfalls. You can also take full
day and half
day horse rides, and ATV
rides in the rainforest - good fun :-)

There is a koala & wildlife
park and some rainforest tours with Army Ducks, a tropical fruit
orchard, and you can learn boomerang and spear throwing with Pamagirri
Aboriginal people, and enjoy all kinds of tropical products at the
park’s two restaurants.

Rainforest at Barron Gorge. Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to
buy.
Kuranda Railway and Kuranda Sky Rail
If you bought a package of the Kuranda
Scenic Railway, Skyrail and
the
Tjapukai Cultural Park, you are going to catch the Kuranda Sky Rail
back to north Cairns.
It is a great ride across
the Great Dividing Range and its rainforested mountains, with some
excellent views and photo opportunities. You can of course still catch
the Skyrail and visit Tjapukai even if you didn’t buy a package, but
the package is cheaper.

Kuranda Scenic Train. Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to
buy.
Tjapukai Cultural Park and Tjapukai by Night
Once back in Smithfield in north Cairns, Tjapukai
Aboriginal Cultural Park is probably
the best place in Australia to experience Aboriginal
Culture.
This most
successful Aboriginal company was established in 1987 and has since
been performing at numerous Expos, on Australia Week in Los Angeles,
and for Queen Elisabeth II; got a huge amount of awards, made their own
documentaries, toured numerous countries on at least four continents
and lately moved into this $9 million park that you can visit today.

Barron River. Poster
by AllPosters. Click on thumbnail to
buy.

Tjapukai Cultural Park and Tjapukai by Night
You can visit a traditional camp and learn about bush tucker and
medicine, and learn didgeridoo playing and boomerang and spear
throwing. You can watch Tjapukai dancers and different performances in
the Tjapukai Dance Theatre, History
Theatre, Creation Theatre and the Magic Space.
You can have a meal at
the Boomerang Restaurant and there are shops in the Retail Gallery.
Since 2002 the park is even open during the night when you can watch
the evening shows and have a dinner. Tjapukai is a great experience
that fully deserves to be world famous.

Tjapukai painting. Poster by AllPosters.
Click on thumbnail to
buy.

Here's a map of Kuranda Australia,
where
I have tagged the places that I mentioned on this web page. You can
click on the tags to see what places they are, and double-click
anywhere on the map to zoom it in and see the places closer. Drag the
map to move around, and if you want to see the satellite image with
Google Earth, click on "Sat" in the top right hand corner.

Using this Website

Note:
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correct in the language used in Australia.

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